Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Oct 31, 2011, 8:52 am
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Dr. Moreau portion of this year's Dueling Monsters read-a-long! I hope you enjoying getting to know Moreau - he certainly gave me the creeps ... Be sure to check out all the reviews and see if others had the same reaction to the book that you did. And if...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Oct 30, 2011, 9:35 pm
The Call of Cthulhuby HP Lovecraft50 pages In this short story, a classic of the horror genre, a young man discovers references to a creepy cult in his deceased uncle's paperwork. The cult has apparently been around since the dawn of time and it's followers are quite creepy and violent. Others who ...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Oct 30, 2011, 8:32 pm
The Island of Dr. Moreauby H.G. Wellsaudiobook: 5.25 hoursnarrated by Simon Prebble About the Book ... to leave the ship at well. Once on the island Montgomery introduces him to Dr. Moreau, a scientist who uses the island as the base for his experimentation. ... he was grafting animals parts onto...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Oct 27, 2011, 10:30 am
Song of the Nileby Stephanie Dray398 pages About the Book From Amazon.com: Sorceress. Seductress. Schemer. Cleopatra's daughter is the one woman with the power to destroy an empire... Having survived her perilous childhood as a royal captive of Rome, Selene pledged her loyalty to Augustus and swore...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Oct 26, 2011, 12:58 pm
Please welcome author Stephanie Dray to my blog today. Stephanie is a local author who I had the great fortune to meet at the Baltimore Book Festival. I was already a fan of hers after reading LILY OF THE NILE last year, and I was super excited to have her hand me a copy of her latest book, SONG OF ...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Oct 15, 2011, 9:48 am
Are you reading The Island of Dr. Moreau for this year's Dueling Monsters read-a-long? When you post your review, leave a link to it in the comments on this post. I'll be recapping the challenge on 10/31 and including links to all the reviews - don't get left out, or I'll have to sic Dr. Moreau on y...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Oct 12, 2011, 11:32 am
Over the past year my book club got smaller and smaller due to changes in the ladies lives.  We had our last meeting in May and decided to take the summer off. Then Fall came and a few die-hard members emailed me to ask when we were meeting again. The thing is, I think we need more ladies in order ...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Oct 5, 2011, 9:16 am
The Piano Teacherby Janice Y. K. Leeaudiobook:10.75 hoursnarrated by Orlagh Cassidy  From my library's website:  In the epic tradition of The English Patient, this gripping tale of love and betrayal is set in war-torn Hong Kong. It is 1942, and Will Trusdale, an Englishman newly arrived in Hong Ko...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Oct 1, 2011, 7:45 am
And so begins the Duel! If you are joining in on the side of Dr. Moreau (or are at least giving him a chance) let me know in the comments. The read-a-long starts today and you can post your review any time this month. On Oct. 15th I'll put up a call for reviews - post your link in the comments there...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 29, 2011, 7:46 am
Love Times Three:Our True Story of a Polygamous Marriageby Joe, Alina, Vicki, and Valerie ... It I was a huge fan of the HBO series Big Love and am fascinated by people who can make polygamous marriage work. This book sounds ... was the fact that this family was part of the basis for the HBO ser...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 27, 2011, 6:37 am
The Hum and the Shiverby Alex Bledsoe352 pages About the Book from the author's website: No one knows where the Tufa came from, or how they ended up in the mountains of East Tennessee. When the first Europeans came to the Smoky Mountains, the Tufa were already there. Dark-haired and enigmatic, the...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 25, 2011, 9:55 am
For all my Northern Virginia blogger buddies, I don't know if any of you are interested but Kiddo's ice hockey team plays in your area several times this season (in one of the 36 games between now and February).  I, of course, would love to meet up with other bloggers, and Kiddo, of course, would l...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 23, 2011, 11:13 am
Major Pettigrew's Last Standby Helen Simonsonaudiobook: 13 hoursnarrated by Peter Artschuler From my library's website: You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously or...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 21, 2011, 9:49 am
Docby Mary Doria Russell416 pages About The Book Using the best historical documentation available, Mary Doria Russell brings to life John Henry Holliday, the man behind the overblown myth of Wild West gunslinger Doc Holliday.  From his childhood in antebellum Georgia and his dental education in th...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 19, 2011, 9:21 am
Wherever You Goby Joan Leegant253 pages About the Book Yona, Mark, and Aaron don't know each other but their lives will soon intersect in a very dramatic way. Yona is in Israel to try to heal the broken relationship with her sister and put her own life back together in the process. Mark is returning...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 17, 2011, 10:51 am
It's that time of year again,time for Dueling Monsters!  In this third year of our reading challenge, Fizzy Thoughts and I are delving into some early science fiction/horror stories as we pit H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau against H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu. Fizzy Thoughts will hos...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 15, 2011, 7:50 am
The Beekeeper's Lamentby Hannah Nordaus288 pages About the Book The subtitle of this book is "How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America" and that is really what the book is about. The author profiles one of the largest (and most interesting!) beekeepers in the US and shows how vita...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 13, 2011, 7:03 am
I haven't participated in BBAW this week simply because I haven't been blogging as regularly as I used to. That said, I knew I didn't want to miss out on Interview Day so I made sure to sign up. I love interviewing other bloggers and always enjoy this part of BBAW the most. So without further ado, a...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 10, 2011, 7:58 am
Excerpt from the back cover: Almost two million people from across the United States and around the world have come through the museum galleries of the Tribute WTC Visitor Center since it opened in September 2006 across the street from the World Trade Center site. Many of these visitors have writte...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 8, 2011, 8:52 am
Dueling Monsters Round 3 is coming in October! Details will be announced on Sept. 17. Any guesses as to what we'll be reading this year? Hint: Check out the button below.
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 7, 2011, 9:33 am
I'm still behind on reviews so here are a few quick thoughts on some of my recent read/listens. For a summary of these books please click on the title. The Bonesetter's Daughter, by Amy Tan - audiobook (11.9 hours) - narrated by Amy Tan and Chen Joan Tan - I enjoyed THE JOY LUCK CLUB year ago and ha...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 5, 2011, 1:32 pm
Olga: A Daughter's Taleby Marie-Therese Brown 266 pages About the Book All her life Marie's mother, Olga, has been secretive about her past. Marie doesn't even know the name of her father. So when Olga ends up in the hospital, Marie realizes that if she ever wants to know about her family history sh...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Sep 4, 2011, 11:10 pm
I've been a bad blogger lately, and it's not that I don't have tons to write about ... I just need to sit down and WRITE!  Until then, check out this list of the fabulous authors who will be at the Baltimore Book Festival on Sept. 23-25. I'm super excited to see Sherman Alexie! I've read one of his...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Aug 23, 2011, 7:58 am
Faithby Jennifer Haighaudiobook: 10.6 hoursnarrated by Therese Plummer Why I Read It I don't generally read books like this but after seeing all the fantastic reviews for it during the TLC Book Tour (and hearing that it was not a Catholic-bashing book*) I knew I had to give it a try. About the Book...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Aug 20, 2011, 8:29 am
American Godsby Neil Gaimanaudiobook: 19.65 hoursnarrated by Dennis Boutsikaris, Daniel Oreskes,Ron McLarty, Sarah Jones (a full cast production) Why I Read It Back when I reviewed Stardust I said that even though I enjoyed the book I wasn't really a Gaiman fan. I also said that I still wanted to ...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Aug 19, 2011, 8:08 am
It's been a while since I've posted a list of any sort but I got a bit excited when I saw the one Ryan from Wordsmithonia posted. It was a list of the top 100 fantasy/scifi books as compiled by NPR.  There are some great books on there and a lot that I haven't heard of either!  Of course there ar...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Aug 18, 2011, 9:17 am
August has been a travel month in my house.  We drove 7 hours to North Carolina to take Kiddo to camp then 7 hours back home the next day.  At the end of camp we flew to North Carolina, drove an hour to pick up Kiddo, drove an hour back to the airport, then flew to Disney World in Florida. After a...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Aug 16, 2011, 9:10 am
Lebensbornby Jo Ann Bender364 pages While wandering the aisles at BEA back in May I came across author Jo Ann Bender signing copies of her WWII fiction novel and had to get a copy for myself. The book sounded familiar to me, and I thought maybe I'd read a review of it on someone's blog. And of cours...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Aug 7, 2011, 12:49 pm
Waltzing With The Enemyby Rasia Kliot and Helen Mitsios287 pages During the panel I moderated at BEA I mentioned that I enjoy non-fiction. Immediately after the panel author Helen Mitsios introduced herself, thrilled to finally find a non-fiction fan (she hadn't had much success connecting with the ...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Aug 2, 2011, 10:40 pm
Something Inside of Me by Chitoka Webb200 pages I met Chitoka while I was at BEA in New York back in May and I really enjoyed the time I spent chatting with her. She is a lovely conversationalist and it was for that reason that I decided to read her book, even though it isn't something I'd normally ...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jul 24, 2011, 9:00 am
One Second Afterby William R. Forstchenaudiobook: 13.3 hoursnarrated by Joe Barrett About the Book In a small mountain town in North Carolina, the electricity suddenly goes out.  Soon enough the town realizes that America has been attacked by EMP weapons - the kind that permanently knock out all ...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jul 21, 2011, 12:30 pm
When the Killing's Doneby T.C. Boyleaudiobook: 11.2 hoursnarrated by Anthony Heald About the Book (from my library's description) "From the bestselling author of The Women comes an action-packed adventure about endangered animals and those who would protect them. Principally set on the wild and spar...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jul 12, 2011, 8:24 pm
As we pulled into the gas station just now Kiddo hollered "Mom, it's a vampire truck!" It took me a few minutes to figure out what he was talking about but I finally got it.
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jul 11, 2011, 7:55 am
Next to Loveby Ellen Feldman304 pages From the epigraph: War ... next to love, has most captured the world's imagination. - Eric Partridge, 1914 While meandering through the aisles on the last day of BEA the cover of this book caught my eye. When I saw that the author was at the booth signing the l...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jul 9, 2011, 11:22 am
I've been trying to listen to the audio of THE GENDARME by Mark Mustian for weeks now. I was SO excited when this came out - it looked like exactly the kind of book I most enjoy. I picked it up from the library a few weeks ago, popped in the first CD, and ... just about fell asleep. I made it throu...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jul 7, 2011, 9:09 am
Outlanderand Dragonfly In Amber and Voyagerby Diana Gabaldonaudiobooks: Outlander = 32.75 hours, Dragonfly in Amber = 39 hours, Voyager = 43.33 hoursnarrated by Davina Porter After years of hearing about these books I finally decided to give them a try and I am HOOKED.   About the Books Book 1: ...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jul 5, 2011, 12:39 pm
I hope that you all are enjoying your summer (or, for those in the other hemisphere, your winter) as much as I am.  Things have been super busy here BUT I am reading some and definitely listening to lots of audio books.  Below are some quick thoughts on some of my latest finished books.  I didn't...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 28, 2011, 9:30 am
It's been quiet around here lately but that's because summer is in full swing and I'm doing everything BUT reading.  To see what crazy adventures I got myself up to last week, check out my guest post at Wordsmithonia today.  I can just about guarantee that my week was more ... um ... dangerous? ....
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 20, 2011, 8:21 am
Over the next few weeks I will feature books that I received at Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention.  In most cases I have not read the book yet, but simply want to share with you my first impressions from the conventions and let you know why the book attracted my attention. Kiddo is,...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 17, 2011, 8:36 am
Fire On Dark Waterby Wendy K. Perriman326 pages About the Book Lola was a young child when she was stolen from her gypsy family in England and sold into prostitution.  Through a combination of spirit and luck (both good and bad) she eventually finds herself indentured to a wealthy family in the so...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 15, 2011, 8:06 am
The Language of the Seaby James MacManus295 pages About the Book Leo Kemp, professor of marine mammal studies, is fascinated by seal communication; it is his life's work.  His dedication to the subject has led to problems in his marriage and even (in a roundabout way) to the death of his 10-year-ol...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 10, 2011, 10:00 am
The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkienaudiobook: 11.1 hoursnarrated by Robert Inglis A few weeks ago Sheila @ Book  Journey mentioned that she was starting the audio of JRR Tolkien's classic, The Hobbit.  As luck would have it I had just checked out that same audiobook from my library so I suggested that we r...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 8, 2011, 8:11 am
Current/most recent audiobook: Last night I finished WHEN THE KILLING'S DONE, by TC Boyle. Impressions: This is a book I need to review ASAP.  I loved the last book that I listened to by this author - THE TORTILLA CURTAIN (mini review here) - and was very excited about this one, but I ended up be...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 7, 2011, 9:15 am
Something Missingby Matthew Dicksaudiobook: 9 hours narrated by Jefferson Mays About the Book Martin has made quite an interesting career for himself, stealing from the same "clients" for over ten years.  Through meticulous research he has learned about these couples in detail - their likes and di...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 6, 2011, 8:31 am
Over the next few weeks I will feature books that I received at Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention.  In most cases I have not read the book yet, but simply want to share with you my first impressions from the conventions and let you know why the book attracted my attention. I'm not a...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 4, 2011, 8:41 am
The "Bloody Jack" Seriesby L.A. Meyer I can't remember where or when I first heard of the book BLOODY JACK but I do know that I didn't think it would be my kind of read.  It was supposed to be a young adult story of an orphaned girl on the streets of old London who dressed as a boy and went to work...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 2, 2011, 9:02 am
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacksby Rebecca Sklootaudiobook: 12.5 hours This book made all sorts of waves when it came out (last year, I think) and I really wanted to read it but of course it got put off and put off. Finally I decided to get the audio from the library and just listen to it rather...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - Jun 1, 2011, 8:56 am
I don't have it in me to do a full recap of the lunches and dinners I attended during my time in NYC so I hope you'll enjoy these pictures and quick notes - I think they give you an idea of the great time I had! Tuesday Night: The Bookrageous Bash at Lolita Bar was a hot and crowded affair, but sin...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - May 30, 2011, 8:24 am
In honor of Memorial Day here in the US - a day set aside to remember those who have died in war - I want to tell you a bit about Joe Tofinchio. My Grandpa, Nick Fontana, met Joe Tofinchio when they were in the Army together.  They became great friends, and Grandpa even brought Joe home to meet his...
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Heather J. posted an article on Age 30 - A Year of Books - May 28, 2011, 2:54 pm
This was THE.BEST.NIGHT I had in NYC. Barbara @ Reading Group Guides, Candace @ Beth Fish Reads, and Jenn @ Jenn's Bookshelves joined me for dinner at Becco (an Italian place) in the theater district. It was a hot night but the food and wine were fantastic and the company was even better. After dinn...
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